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borderdog

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  1. Superdad, I tried that with separate iTunes library folders on each machine and have them each point to the common media folder on the NAS. It wouldn't work for simultaneous playback. I also tried doing an alias of the original "iTunes Library" file. It would keep telling me it was locked, even though I had the alias in a different folder. That's because it would read back to the original file which was in use. Another thing I found out was; if you rename the "iTunes Library" file, it won't work. The only way I found you could access your NSA drive from multiple computers was what I outlined above. The quickest and easiest way to maintain the individual files for the different computers would be just do a copy and paste of the primary computers library file. It takes about 30 seconds to do. But it is total cloning. If you changed the name of the library (in Preferences) so you can use your iOS device to control all computers, when you update your Library file from the primary machine, the name reverts back to the original. As I said before, this was just an experiment, so you can take it for whatever it's worth.
  2. I forgot to elaborate further on one thing. The reason in the above directions as to why I mentioned that you should stick to just one computer for ripping and downloading is simply for less confusion down the road. I haven't tried this yet with my new-found ability to simultaneously access my NAS drive via two Macs, so the following is all conjecture. When you rip/download on your main computer, you will only be updating the "iTunes Library" file in the iTunes folder that is dedicated to that machine. If you were to open iTunes on another computer, the new music wouldn't show up. The simplest way to get the new music available to the other machine(s) is simply quit iTunes on all machines. Open up a finder window (on any of computers) for the NAS drive; go to the iTunes folder related to the machine you've been using for ripping/downloading and copy the "iTunes Library" file and then paste that into the other iTunes folder(s). A dialogue box will come up saying a file with that name already exists and do you want to replace it with the newer file. Yes. That should make the new music accessible to all computers. I should add that the above method is always going to maintain the same playlists on all computers; no differentiation at all since it's a complete cloning. Now the above is very quick to do, but the main problem I foresee is: what if you want different playlists on the different computers? I think here is where it gets sticky, maybe stinky. Let's say you've done new playlists for a machine, but you want access to the new music that you downloaded on your main machine. The only way I see that you can maintain your new playlists, and get the new music, is to use the "Add to Library" command. Since the folder(s) for that new music is already in you Music folder of your NSA drive, that command is not going to duplicate that folder agin, but simply update the "iTunes Library" file for that computer. You have to go your Music folder, highlight the folder for each new album that you want and then use the "Add to Library" command. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I embarked on this experiment this morning just to prove to myself that i could beat iTunes. Currently I have Sarah Vaughan singing in my main listening room (iTunes and Pure Music) and J.J. Johnson playing trombone on my MacBook Pro in the kitchen. So, it can be done. But it all could become an administrative PIA. Aaron
  3. This is a question I've considered for a few years, but never implemented it because I have never had the need to use more than on Mac at a time for music. So seeing this question arise this morning I set out too see if I could beat iTunes. (I must have been bored). Anyways, I won! I currently have my iTunes library playing (from an NAS) on two different Macs; my iMac and my Macbook. I didn't bother setting up my Mac Mini for this little exercise, but I believe the procedure I'm outlying below will work if I wanted to add the third computer or more. I'm going to give a step-by-step procedure on how to accomplish this. For you long-time Mac users, it may seem a long-in-the-tooth, but I'm filling in things for new users or people that don't know their way around iTunes and all the assorted files. Also, this is the first time I've ever tried to put it into written directions. Do the following initial work on your main computer that you do your ripping and downloading. There's a good reason for this that I'll get into later. All you people that have already done all this can skip down a few paragraphs. First, you have to have your iTunes Folder on your NAS drive. (I do all my ripping, downloading, and editing/tagging on my iMac so I left that folder alone, since it's been on my NAS since the beginning.) If you don't have your main iTunes folder on the NAS, I recommend you drag it from your computer's hard drive to the NAS drive. It will be in the "Music Folder" under Users. If iTunes is running, quit it now. If you haven't already done so, drag the "iTunes Media" folder out of the main "iTunes" folder. Now that your media folder is out of the "iTunes" folder, you can click on it once to highlight it, then press return which will now allow you to rename it if you choose to do so. I highly recommend you do rename. Call it something like "Joe's Music" or whatever. Just make sure that iTunes is nowhere in the new name. Launch iTunes holding down the "option" key. A dialogue box will open; click Choose Library. Find your NAS drive in the finder window that opens, and click on the "iTunes" folder to highlight. (The iTunes folder should now only contain an "Album Artwork" folder, maybe a "Mobile Applications" folder, and the following files: iTunes Library, iTunes Library Extras.itdb, iTunes Library Genius.itdb, iTunes Library.xml, and Temp File.tmp.) Click Open and iTunes will launch. Now that iTunes is open, open up preferences and click on "General". At the top of the window will be "Library Name". Enter the name of your renamed media file; Joe's Music or whatever. Next, click on "Advanced". At the top is "iTunes Media folder location". Click on the "Change" button. A finder window will open. Find your NAS drive and then click on the newly named music folder. Click the "Open" button in the bottom right hand corner. For my main work computer, I also check "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library". Quit iTunes and relaunch holding down the option key. A dialogue box will open; click Choose Library. Find your NAS drive in the finder window that opens, and click on the "iTunes" folder to highlight. Click Open. Everything should now be good to go on your main computer. From here on out when you launch iTunes on that computer, you shouldn't have to use the option key anymore. We're almost done here. All you people that have already organized and preferenced your iTunes like I have can start here. Next, on your main computer, open up a new finder window. I always work in column view. To me it just seems more logical. Find your NAS drive. If you are in column view, just click on your NAS drive and the columns will expand to show all the folders/files on the NAS drive. Create a new folder in that same level that has your iTunes folder on it. Name that new folder "iTunes MacBook" or "iTunes Mac Mini" or whatever. Double-click on the new folder. It will open a new finder window that's empty. Drag it out of the way, but close by the other finder window. Go back to the finder window that has the original iTunes folder on it. Single-click on the iTunes folder to open it's contents in the next column. Select everything that's in the iTunes folder. (Note: you may not want to select the "Mobile Applications" folder because that is usually huge.) Once you have selected everything, including the "Album Artwork" folder, do a command/C (copy) or go to Edit pull down menu and choose Copy. Go back to your new folder that you just created and Paste those folders/files into it. In a few minutes you will have two folders with identical content, but one is called "iTunes" and the other is "iTunes Mac Mini" or "iTunes MacBook". If you want to use a third computer, just create a new folder again (with a new name) and repeat the copy and pasting as above. Go to your next computer. In my case, I used my MacBook for this little exercise and I had created a folder called "iTunes MacBook". If your using a Mac Mini, and you have your screen sharing set up on your main computer, you can finish up via screen sharing on your main computer. Anyways, whichever computer you're setting up next, launch iTunes on that computer, holding down the option key. Click Choose Library. Find your NAS drive in the window that opens and choose the new iTunes folder that you just created. Highlight it and click Open. And iTunes should open with a perfect match to whats on your main computer, including Preferences. Preferences are stored in the iTunes Library file. Since your new folder has an exact copy everything should be the same. One last thing to do. Open up the Preferences in iTunes on your newly configured computer. Choose General. Under Library Name, Change the name slightly. If you had "Joe's Music", change it to "Joe Schmo' Music" or something like that. Quit iTunes again and then relaunch. You shouldn't have to use the option key. The reason for doing this is if you are using the Remote app on your iPad and iPhones, this will allow your different devices to control both computers. Both Library names will be accessible by all your devices. If you didn't rename one of the library's, when you choose a track on your iPad Remote, all computers would play the same thing. (If you're not familiar with setting up multiple libraries on your Remote app, we can go into that later) Good Luck, Aaron
  4. Let us know what you experience with the Wireworld cables.
  5. Check out Wireworld. Their PC's have a unique design to them. Supposedly for rejecting noise.
  6. Thanks Eloise. It worked. I was able to clean things up a bit. There are still some genres in the pop-up menu I can't delete, but I guess those are defaults that will always remain. No harm though, as I won't use them. I am finished ripping, other than new material as I acquire it, so I'll just be more watchful.
  7. I'm trying to clean up the "genre" categorization of my library. When you "get info" on a song or album, there's a pop-up menu for genre where you can select the genre or you create your own genre. Okay, everybody knows this part. Over the course of ripping CD's to the library, you're at the mercy of Gracenote, or whoever supplies the metadata for that CD. Often the genre is lacking or they mislabel so you have the option of creating your own or choosing one from the menu. Oftentimes the genres are misspelled or they are the same genre, but presented in a different way. Once they are misspelled or presented they are there forever (or are they?).For instance, I now have Avant Garde and Avantegarde; or Folk - Rock, Folk-Rock, Folk Rock, (Folk,rock), and Folk/Rock. Vocal, Vocals. Okay, you get my point. By the way, I didn't put those there. Plus, that menu has many genres that are useless (for my purposes, anyways). Is there a way to delete unneeded genres from that pop-up menu? This is one intricacy of iTunes I have not solved. I understand how to batch convert, so once I decide on one of the Folk/Rocks, I can convert all my Folk-Rocks (or is it Folk Rock?) to the same. The only reason this even comes up is sometimes I'm in a particular mood and I'll choose a genre and hit shuffle, or I'll pick an album by genre. The other night I felt like some Folk and all these Folk Rock combinations were staring at me. WTF. So I decided to clean up the mess, but to no avail. Any help out there. Thanks
  8. 80MGB, You can set up your power button to put the mini to sleep and to wake it. (Energy Saver in your System Preferences). It goes to sleep and wakes quite rapidly. That might be enough to re-send the handshake signal. Rather than having to do a full reboot. There are some remote apps for the iPod Touch/Phone that can do this through screen sharing. Just a thought.
  9. I knew I had done it before, just couldn't remember how. So just minutes ago, I tried it again and it started coming back to me. It is really very simple. Create a playlist in iTunes- let's call it "Internet Radio". It will now show up in the left column. With the itunes window open; in the left column under Library, click on Radio. Choose whichever radio stations you desire and manually drag them to the "Internet Radio" playlist. Open Remote on your iphone or touch. Touch on the "playlists" button on the bottom of your screen. All the radio stations you dragged into the playlist folder now appear. Touch the one you want to listen to. If the radio station you chose discloses the current song it's playing that will show up in iTouch screen at the top, just as if you were playing an album. The only thing you can't do is add new stations from the "Remote" app. They do have to be pre-selected from your computer or through screen sharing.
  10. Jay, Amarra and Ayre dac. I have the same mac mini and the same Ayre dac and a very resolving system and I hear a very, very, very slight difference. I have not listened to Amarra through other dacs, so I won't comment on what other people are hearing. But as far as Amarra through an Ayre, the difference is not enough to warrant the price of admission. I noticed in another thread that you are hearing differences as your new mac mini is breaking in. If you can hear that difference but no noticeable difference with Amarra, I would not suspect your hearing, but rather suspect Amarra. I am not willing to pay $1000 for an automatic sample-rate changer. That is the only benefit I see. Maybe the three band parametric equalizer - used for bass room modes. Some day I'll pull out my test equipment and do measurements and play around with the equalization settings in Amarra. But for now, I'll keep the demo on my mini and use it as a sample-rate changer. Aaron H
  11. Stereophile Magazine just awarded the Ayre dac the 2009 "Overall Product of the Year".<br /> I concur.<br /> <br /> Aaron H
  12. Part-time Frisbee champ. Full-time Border Collie. My master is in his 35th year of business as a custom homebuilder. After enduring all those years in such a noisy environment, his hearing has gone to shit. I lend him my "golden ears" when we audition new equipment and he types my forum posts. By the way, I really like all the hi def HD Tracks he's been downloading lately; especially Steve Vai's "Where The Wild Things Are" and Keith Jarret's "Paris London Testament". Enough talking, time to listen to some music. Pepper Damn dog doesn't acknowledge he's a dog. He wants to be classified as a Homo lupus unfamiliaris or Canis lupus sapiens. Aaron H
  13. Finally some HD music I can really sink my teeth into. Rather than some esoteric flute bullshit sitting next to the Ganges River. Just kidding of course. This Steve Vai album is some brilliant guitar work recorded live this year. It is excellant. Hd Tracks is definitely on the right track. Aaron H
  14. Chris,<br /> Great article.<br /> My dog doesn't like to be wagged by his tail, so I bought the Ayre for him.<br /> <br /> Aaron H
  15. I would recommend keeping your present amp and looking at Dyn's Excite or Focus lines. The Excite basically replaced the Audience. Although the price point between the Excite and Audience is similar, the Excite is just more refined. They are also very easily driven. If you have to have active speakers, check out the Focus 110 A's. These are Dyn's "consumer" active speakers. Their MSRP is $2450 (US). They are going to have a much more refined sound than the BM12A's. I'm not a fan of active speakers, but these babies do sing. I'm a Dynaholic. Aaron H
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